Start with ‘Which?’ A different way to approach B2B positioning

Words: Adam Ketterer – Founder

Category(s): Branding, Positioning

Date: 23rd July 2026

Marketers love ‘question words’. The who, what, where, when, why, how, and for whom of it all.

These ‘wh- words’ are the prompts that populate positioning and messaging frameworks, daring us to actually write down what (etc.) it is our companies and products actually are and do.

Marketers also love arguing over which question words are the most important – or at least which one you should start with – especially if it helps us procrastinate on answering them properly.

A quick note on starting with ‘Why’

None of the wh- words is more contentious than ‘Why’. It certainly gets the most airtime, largely thanks to Simon Sinek. Back in 2009, he argued that the most inspiring leaders start with why – and today, marketers are still misapplying his advice to any old marketing challenge for any old company.

I wrote an article years ago about why most brands shouldn’t start with why’. The short version is that you shouldn’t conflate marketing with leadership. Starting with why can be effective if you’re trying to recruit people to your mission or you’re evangelising a new category of tech or a new way of doing something. But if your story doesn’t absolutely rely on this context then ‘start with why’ is usually bad advice.

Okay, forget ‘Why’. What about the rest of us?

If ‘Why’ isn’t actually that helpful for most positioning challenges, what else should we start with?

Some say you should start with who you’re selling to. That everything should be built on an understanding of your customers and their needs. That’s hard to argue with, and is often the right call.

Not all positioning frameworks take a purely wh- question approach, but they cover a lot of the same ground. Positioning consultant April Dunford, for example, poses five questions in her positioning framework (about competitive alternatives, key unique attributes, value, customers that care and market context) – and she recommends starting with the one about alternatives: Who or what are you competing against?

The truth is, as it is with so many positioning and marketing decisions, that the answer to the question of importance or precedence is… ‘It depends.’ All of the wh- questions can help to frame or furnish your positioning and storytelling.

But over the years, as I answered variations of these questions more times than anyone needs to in a lifetime, it occurred to me there’s one useful question that isn’t often considered by marketers – even though real people ask it all the time.

Your new favourite question word: ‘Which?’

‘Which?’ is a useful starting point in a positioning framework because of the logical path it leads you down, and the knock-on questions it raises in turn.

When you ask a ‘Which?’ question, you’re asking for something to be identified from a fixed or limited set of possible things.

So it raises a second necessary question:

‘Which what?’

In other words, ‘Which X are you?’

Before you can answer that question, you have to define your terms. What fixed or limited set of things are you one of? And you have a couple of good options here.

Your ‘what’ can be a category, like ‘CRM’ or ‘B2B marketing agency’. Or it can be a way of completing a job your customers need to do, like keeping their office fridges stocked or managing their business taxes. (Whether you choose a category or a job depends on things like the maturity of your market and your audience’s frame of reference when they’re looking to buy.)

So let’s say a CRM is what you are. Now we have:

‘Which CRM are you?’

And your answer to this question goes something like:

‘The CRM that…’

Maybe it’s the CRM that’s designed for busy dogwalkers.

Or the CRM that only charges you when you close a deal.

And here’s an important point of pedantry where grammar meets positioning. ‘Which X?’ is the right question to ask. But we must use the word ‘that’ in our answer, not ‘which’.

‘An X that does/is Y’ tells us that doing or being Y is essential to the identity of this particular X. Y is what makes it special.

‘An X, which does/is Y, […]’ tells us that Y is incidental or non-essential, and leaves us looking for the really important stuff. It’s like we’re saying ‘it (also) does Y’.

‘Beneath, which is a remote agency based around London, is a specialist in B2B branding and marketing with depth.’

When you see a comma followed by ‘which’, you know you’re getting extra information, in what they call an unrestrictive clause. When you see ‘that’ (or a ‘that’ implied by an ‘is’, like we have here) then you know you’re getting the important stuff, in what’s called a restrictive clause.

And what could be a more fitting analogy for the positioning process where the whole point is to express the defining, differentiating thing about you?

Be the X that does/is Y

So there you have it.

Start with ‘Which?’

Let it guide you to ask ‘Which what?’

Define your what.

Then tell the world you’re ‘The X that does/is Y’.

Your X is your category or the job you help customers do.

Your Y carves out your niche within X by leading you, via the other wh- questions, to something special and ownable. (And hey, you might even bring in your ‘Why’ if it makes sense.)

For example: The X for so-and-sos (Who). The X with the secret recipe (How). The X that wants to make the world / the internet / your inbox a better place (Why).

Whatever form your answer takes, you’ll ground your positioning in reality and cut straight to a clearer articulation of exactly what makes you special when you start with ‘Which?’

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P.s. This is a very simple framework on paper but it asks you to commit to making some tough decisions that require a good deal of thought. For more posts on the different elements of B2B positioning, brand and storytelling, try these posts: